By William Duncan

Andre Villas-Boas' men have lost four of their last five outings in all competitions but Willie Duncan expects the visitors to battle their way to a point at Stadio Olimpico

Tottenham Hotspur will look to put their recent poor run of form behind them when they travel to Rome to face Serie A side Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Spurs have lost four of their last five matches, including a crushing 5-2 defeat at the hands of north London rivals Arsenal at the weekend and Andre Villas-Boas’ men are chalked up at 9/4 (3.25) with Paddy Power to pick up their first away win of this Europa League campaign at Stadio Olimpico.

Vladimir Petkovic’s side can secure top spot in the group with victory in this game – an eventuality which is rated as a 5/4 (2.25) chance with Paddy Power – while the same firm go 9/4 (3.25) that the match ends in a draw.

These two sides played out a tense 0-0 draw when they met at White Hart Lane back in September but goals seem likely on this occasion.

It is worth noting that Spurs have scored in 12 of their last 13 matches but have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight and, for that reason, the 4/6 (1.67) quote from Paddy Power for both teams to score looks to be excellent value here.

With Emmanuel Adebayor's red card at the weekend ruling him out for the next three league games, Villas-Boas is unlikely to take many chances with the fitness of Jermain Defoe and may well opt to rest the England international here.

Subsequently, that may mean that Gareth Bale is pushed into a more advanced role by the Portuguese manager and his pace could pose a real threat to Lazio's chances on Thursday.

Bale is available at a juicy 15/2 (8.50) with Paddy Power to open the scoring while the Irish bookmaker goes 9/2 (5.50) that the Welshman bags Spurs’ first goal of the night.

A close match seems certain and it might be worth backing the draw at a tempting 9/4 (3.25) with Paddy Power while 9/2 (5.50) for the ever-dangerous Bale to net Spurs’ opener is the value selection here.

Willie Duncan is a freelance sports journalist. Willie, from Edinburgh, has covered Scottish football for over 10 years and he specialises in football betting markets from across Europe. You can also follow Willie on Twitter